Radio Los Santos is a radio station featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The station plays contemporary hip-hop.
Description
According to its callers and station idents, Radio Los Santos is the more popular of the two hip hop stations in GTA San Andreas. Its playlist predominantly features early-1990s rap from West Coast acts, in contrast to Playback FM's playlist which features late-1980s rap from East Coast acts. The two stations were released together in the 8-CD Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: Official Soundtrack Box Set.
The radio station's DJ in 1992 is Julio G. In contrast to the music he plays, Julio presents a "straight man" attitude, advocating for peace in Los Santos' neighborhoods, encouraging listeners to do something useful for the community, criticizing violence, drug use, and those who confuse rappers and gangsters, and disapproving of the looting during the riots in the final stages of the game. He is one of the few characters in the whole GTA series to encourage good practices.
The station also includes references to "carjacking [being] on the rise", Los Santos gang violence, and the Los Santos crack epidemic, activities that encompass a large part of the gameplay and the story. Rapper B-Real from Cypress Hill makes an appearance on the station, as does Madd Dogg, who is voiced by Ice-T. Other appearances on the radio station include OG Loc and Big Smoke once the player has completed the first act of the game (the missions in Los Santos).
If Carl ignores Denise Robinson, she will call the station, with Julio G giving a shout-out to Carl on air to come and visit her.
Tracklist
| Song: | Preview: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|
| "I Don't Give a Fuck" by 2Pac feat. Pogo (1991) | This song is missing from the iOS, Android, PS2 Classics (PS3, PS4 and PS5), Rockstar Games Launcher, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. | |
| "Hood Took Me Under" by Compton's Most Wanted (1992) | ||
| "Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang" by Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg (1992) | ||
| "The Ghetto" by Too $hort (1990) | ||
| "Alwayz into Somethin'" by N.W.A. (1991) | ||
| "Check Yo Self (The Message Remix)" by Ice Cube feat. Das EFX (1992) | ||
| "La Raza" by Kid Frost (1990) | ||
| "How I Could Just Kill a Man" by Cypress Hill (1991) | ||
| "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')" by Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg (1992) | ||
| "It's Funky Enough" by The D.O.C. (1989) | ||
| "Express Yourself" by N.W.A. (1988) | This song is missing from the iOS, Android, PS2 Classics (PS3, PS4 and PS5), Rockstar Games Launcher, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. | |
| "It Was a Good Day" by Ice Cube (1992) | ||
| "Eazy-Er Said Than Dunn" by Eazy-E (1988) | ||
| "Murder Rap" by Above the Law (1990) | ||
| "Deep Cover" by Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg (1992) | ||
| "Guerillas in tha Mist" by Da Lench Mob feat. Ice Cube (1992) |
Prominent Appearances in the Storyline
- Radio station
- Radio Los Santos plays in generic barbershops (i.e. all except Reece's Hair & Facial Studio and Macisla's in eastern Los Santos).
- Individual tracks
- 2Pac's "I Don't Give a Fuck" was featured in the third trailer of the game.
- Dr.Dre's "Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang" is one of the three songs that play in the dancing minigame at Nightclubs.
- "It Was a Good Day" and "Hood Took Me Under" play inside Jizzy's Pleasure Domes and the lap dance rooms of Big Smoke's Crack Palace.
Trivia
- Radio Los Santos may likely be based on KDAY 93.5 as Julio G was a former DJ on the station.
- The station features songs by MC Eiht (as a member of Compton's Most Wanted) and Kid Frost, who voiced Ryder and T-Bone Mendez respectively.
- Radio Los Santos is the default radio station in the Greenwood. However, Sweet's personal Greenwood plays Bounce FM when entered.
- When "I Don't Give a Fuck" plays, Julio G sometimes mentions that he is scared of playing the song due to its heavy use of profanity and political lyrical content, and claims he may get fined for playing it. Despite this, most of the songs played on the radio station in 1992 contain explicit content.
- In one of the listener's phone calls to the station, a drum instrumental of N.W.A.'s "Dopeman" can be heard, a song not featured in the game. N.W.A.'s "Express Yourself" samples the song "Dopeman" on this station. Dopeman samples Ohio Players' "Funky Worm", a song featured on Bounce FM.
- Sometimes, Julio G may give a shoutout to various Rockstar Games staff members, including:
- "Les in the North", a nod to Leslie Benzies, president of Rockstar North at the time.
- "The audio boys Allan, Craig and Will" from Scotland on vacation, which are nods to Allan Walker, Craig Conner and Will Morton, who worked as sound producers at Rockstar North, which is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- "Sam and the boys from Liberty City", a nod to Sam Houser, the president of Rockstar Games, whose main offices are located in New York City, one of the inspirations for Liberty City.
- "Check Yo Self" is sampled from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "The Message", which can be heard on Wildstyle in GTA Vice City.
- Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day" is sampled from The Isley Brothers' "Footsteps in the Dark" which can be heard on The Vibe 98.8 in Grand Theft Auto IV.
- The beat in Kid Frost's "La Raza" is sampled from El Chicano's "Viva Tirado", which can be heard on The Lowdown 91.1 in GTA V.
- "Deep Cover" was sampled and covered by Big Pun in "Twinz (Deep Cover 98)", which appears on The Liberty Jam in GTA Liberty City Stories.
See Also
- N-CT FM - a hip hop radio in Grand Theft Auto.
- KREZ - a hip hop radio in Grand Theft Auto 2.
- Game Radio - an east coast hip hop radio in GTA III.
- Wildstyle - a hip hop and electro radio in GTA Vice City.
- Playback FM - a classic east coast hip hop radio in GTA San Andreas.
- The Liberty Jam - an east coast hip hop radio in GTA Liberty City Stories.
- Fresh FM - a hip hop and electro radio in GTA Vice City Stories.
- The Beat 102.7 - a contemporary hip hop radio GTA IV and Episodes from Liberty City.
- The Classics 104.1 - a classic hip hop radio in GTA IV.
- Alchemist - a hip hop instrumentals radio in GTA Chinatown Wars with only tracks by Gangrene.
- DJ Khalil - a hip hop instrumentals radio in enhanced version of GTA Chinatown Wars.
- West Coast Classics - a classic west coast hip hop radio in GTA V that plays other songs by 2Pac, Compton's Most Wanted, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, N.W.A., Too $hort, Eazy E, MC Eiht and Snoop Dogg.
- FlyLo FM - a radio station in GTA V that plays another song by Tyler, the Creator, Freddie Gibbs and Anderson .Paak.
- WorldWide FM - a radio station in GTA V that plays another song by Vince Staples.